Return to Super Bowl for 49ers not automatic

Their defense forgot how to guard receivers, tackle ballhandlers and make adjustments throughout the first half, and their offense hardly even showed up until everything went black.

By that time, the Baltimore Ravens already built an ultimately insurmountable lead.

Red-hot Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco (who finished the postseason with 11 touchdowns and no picks) scorched the sluggish San Francisco defenders for three scores in the first half, helping the Ravens jump out to a 21-6 lead.

San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick looked shaky before halftime, failing to lead his team to touchdowns on key red-zone possessions and throwing the first ever interception by a 49er quarterback in the Super Bowl.

The game started to get even more out of hand when Jacoby Jones ran back the kick to open the second half, putting Baltimore ahead 28-6.

The prospect looked dim for San Francisco, but then the unthinkable happened. The power in the stadium went out and both teams sat around, unable to play during the subsequent 34-minute delay.

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome has hosted seven Super Bowls, but it shouldn't be allowed to have an eighth after the embarrassment Sunday. However, reports indicate the blackout won't hurt New Orleans' future bids for the big game.

There are no excuses for letting the power go out in your stadium on Super Sunday, but the Big Easy is apparently getting a free pass -- likely because of leftover sympathies for Hurricane Katrina.

Then again, the 49ers were lucky the electrical malfunction occurred.

With the lights back, the Kaepernick-led offense turned on its game, scoring three touchdowns and setting up a David Akers field goal.

Defensively, San Francisco kept Baltimore in check for the rest of the second half, yielding just six points and forcing a key third-quarter fumble.

The 49ers rallied valiantly but couldn't close the gap, getting as close as two points midway through the fourth. The Ravens tacked on a field goal to push the margin to five with a little more than four minutes left.

Kaepernick put together a great final drive, but his team crumbled after setting up first-and-goal in the closing minutes. From inside the Baltimore 10-yard-line, the 49ers ran four plays that didn't even sniff the end zone, including a confounding fade to Michael Crabtree on fourth down.

Of course, San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh (who had to watch his brother, John, win the Lombardi Trophy) wanted a defensive penalty called on the Crabtree pass.

Sure, the defender grabbed the receiver but not in an egregious way -- and no referee wants to throw a Super Bowl-altering flag on a so-so call. Angry 49er fans need to remember that San Francisco benefited from a phantom running-into-the-kicker penalty earlier in the game.

After the Niners' idiotic play-calling, Baltimore got the ball back and ran three ineffective plays before having its punter give up a safety by running out of the end zone with four seconds left.

With that, the Niners lost the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.

The question now becomes: will they make it back next year? The short answer is probably not.

The runner-up just doesn't earn a repeat berth anymore. The 1993 Buffalo Bills were the last team to return to the Super Bowl the year after losing it.

Plus, San Francisco has a lot of issues to resolve before next season: addressing Alex Smith's future, figuring out what role players to bring in, acquiring a new kicker and wondering whether Kaepernick can replicate his success.

But there is plenty of time to deal with those topics.

For now, with the 49ers' run at an end, I'm looking forward to tackling other storylines, such as the Warriors' success, the Sharks' hot-then-cold start and the baseball hot stove. What an amazing time for Bay Area sports.